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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Hello! I am officially on my way to becoming a mutant super hero now..... really hoping for some good super powers outta this deal and not some lame-o ones like being able to hear ants talk or some such thing..... radiation is not liking my body very much, and so it's retaliating by being oh so pukey and tired. don't know when I'll be back to crafting. thank goodness I was able to get a bit done last week. this feels like the after-effects of chemo all over again. blech!

But the thing that cracks me up is that every single time I go into the radiation room, they give me grief about my SOCKS! this has been going on for almost a week now.... yep, every day the technicians question me about where I have misplaced my shoes and why in the world am I wearing just socks.....

ummmm..... let's see. I am a 48 year old woman and don't really just 'misplace' my shoes anymore. ;) I don't just look down at my feet and 'discover' that lo and behold I have no shoes on! isn't that a riot?! what happens is this - I don't want to wear my big klunky shoes on that cold metal slab for all that time while they shoot me with gamma rays. it's uncomfortable. I'd rather just lie there in my stocking feet. really no big deal in my opinion, but not a day has passed that they haven't freaked out over it.

I did finally tell them to just cover up my feet and 'stop looking at them' if they were so bothered. for goodness sakes, I'm half undressed as it is, contraptions attached to my chest like some Viking Warrior goddess, and they go on about my FEET! tee hee!

so hopefully by the end of the week I'll be able to pop microwave popcorn just by waving my hand over it....that would be pretty cool. until then I'm thinking of sending hubby to the store for some outlandish socks to keep me going for the next 7 weeks. yep, this Sassy Sister is gonna play it up big time! oh lawsie, you don't think my Sassy gene has mutated, do you?! better strap in then - it's gonna be a lonnnnnng ride! giggles!

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Starting a week from Monday this is going to be my new home away from home through Thanksgiving. I'll be taking 7 weeks of daily radiation treatments, which is actually a week more than we were initially told. it all boils down to the Triple Negative Breast Cancer and the stage the cells were at upon discovery. (or level, I get the 2 mixed up....) and my age. evidently I am on the young side for this to be taking place, so they want to really zap me good. ;) I just hope I get some mighty fine mutant powers out of this deal!

My hair has started to grow back in, and get this - it's coming in silver! whoa nelly that came as quite the shock! I had a few strands here and there before the diagnosis, but evidently the chemo just flat out bleached away all of the brown and gold from my hair. I had been thinking of a pink skunk stripe, but this is almost all silver. I seriously am not going to recognize myself in the mirror....

as for my shoulder, the surgeon, who is fabulous btw, doesn't want to do anything until all cancer treatments are finished. he'll re-evaluate if necessary next year, but the bulk of my pain is coming from a frozen shoulder, not all of the tears. so I am seeing a massage therapist through the new cancer center to help get me ready for radiation to be able to get my arm into proper position. it's not pleasant, but hey, I can put up with most anything these days.

sadly, my seizures have started up again. don't know if it's from the shoulder pain or just the whole shebang.....but that was another lovely little surprise last night. so for the moment I am sitting with my coffee cup enjoying a chipmunk who is playing games on my front porch and just being.....

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Good morning! I realized that in all of the excitement of the Jen's Sunshine blog hop, I had failed to give all of you a final report of the amount raised. I know some of you have been asking, so here ya go -after all of the proceeds I have received from Paper Makeup Stamps, The Stamping Boutique, and the individual donations, all of YOU have so graciously donated almost $600 to my family! isn't that wonderful?!?!?!?!? we are so touched by your love & kindness! already one of my medical bills has been paid off, so your contributions really have made a difference! thank you so very much! :) Also, because so many of you have asked, I will add the paypal donation button to my sidebar for you. (give me some time to figure out how to do this!)

one dr.'s appt. down this week, oh so many left to go..... blech! don't know if I'll have the time or energy to craft, but sure hope I can.

Monday, September 10, 2012

A young man we all know and love took a bit of a tumble and is in need of a 'pick me up' kind of card.... seems his longboard went one direction that was a bit unexpected, so gravity took over with a lovely THUD! What a perfect opportunity to make a card for the new DigiMakeover challenge - Monster Mash! those monsters at Paper Makeup Stamps always give me the giggles, and this little fella is no exception.

I added a few little white polka dots to our unhappy BooBoo monster with my white gel pen. His teeth and tears were painted with shimmerz. Papers are from the Basic Grey Shine On collection. a few buttons, some washi tape, baker's twine, little ticket, and a printed senti banner finish the card.

Funny....no one else in the house wants to sign the card before I mail it out....go figure! ;)

Sunday, September 9, 2012

The challenge this week at Pile it On is to use patterned paper on your project - wow, that is a lot of P's!that isn't ever a problem for me, but you need to go over to the PIO challenge blog to see how some of the DT really piled those patterned papers on! anyone else feeling the need for a pickled pepper from Peter Piper?! ;)

For my card I used this very special image from Milk Coffee. It was a freebie over on the blog, and I was so touched when it was introduced there. The senti comes from Create with TLC. you can be sure that I use this one a lot as well! papers are from Basic Grey Serendipity and a special breast cancer collection by Karen Foster. I made sure to position the main image so that a portion of the poem could still be read. the last line reads, "I am a survivor." This seemed the perfect way to encourage someone else going through this horrible disease.

both the senti portion and the pink ribbon were sprayed with Pink Cadillac Glimmer Mist for a little shine. buttons are vintage. I think what I love most about this image is that it lets everyone know that you can be both feminine and strong while still being a fighter of cancer. some days I sure don't feel very feminine or very strong, so this gives me a bit of hope!

Tomorrow begins my week of doctor's appts., tests, and hospital visits every day. I hope to have one or 2 posts pre-scheduled, but otherwise you won't see much of me. on the other hand, the medical staff of our area will be seeing WAY toooooo much of me! grins! have a good week!

Friday, September 7, 2012

you need to start gathering that pink stash of crafty stuff, 'cause man oh man, are you EVER gonna need it next month!

you might have thought October was all about orange and black and maybe a bit of gold and purple, but not around here! we are going PINK! there is so much fun stuff going on behind the scenes I am about to burst! ;)

I bet you have enough things already in your stash without having to do one lick of shopping. let's try to use up some of what we have, what do you say? and who knows, there might be some challenges to play in, prizes to win, gosh, the sky's the limit when it comes to PINK!!!!

for the winners of the Jen's Sunshine blog hop, please go down to the next post.

Today starts a new challenge at Jellypark Friday Friends, 'All About the Children.' We want to see projects that showcase our kids, especially since most of them are now back in school. Let's celebrate them! :) We also have a new guest designer for the month of September - the incredibly talented and VERY sweet Tracy MacDonald. please stop by and give her a big welcome!

My card is hopefully already at its destination - our son Mick's college dorm mailbox! :) He is in a big longboard competition this weekend in Michigan and of course Mom thought he needed a card of encouragment! if you aren't familiar with longboards, they are a type of skateboard. Mick is pretty good with his, I must say. He had it specially designed just for him, and he is constantly tweeking it here and there.

Papers are from the Basic Grey Shine On collection, twine & washi tape are from Etsy, wonderful arrow tag is from the monthly kit at Freckled Fawn, flair button is from Evalicious, notebook paper sticker is one I made, and buttons are October Afternoon. arrows were die cut from cardboard and then sprayed with Mr. Huey white. same Mr. Huey white was misted over card base in addition to dewey Mr. Huey. well, gosh, that was fun to type! tee hee!sentiment is from Create with TLC. little itty bitty senti is from a Smash stamper. it reads 'that deserves a fist pump'.

if you see your name listed, pop me an email at jenscull at yahoo dot come with your mailing addy (if it applies). If I haven't heard from you by Sunday evening at midnight, a new winner will be chosen for that prize. I will try to get prizes mailed out ASAP. Please be patient, though. I have dr.s' appt.s and testing almost every day next week. On top of that I still have this blasted fever and now a fun cough..... I'll do the best I can to get these goodies out to you quickly pronto fast! :)

btw......winners were chosen using the random blue box thingy. I can't for the life of me get it to post on my blog properly. doesn't help that my head is off in left field picking daisies like a first year Little Leaguer....you are just gonna have to trust me on this. ha!

Congratulations to all of you! again, please send me an email with your mailing info or email address so I can make sure your prizes get to you.:)

thank you so VERY much to everyone who participated in the hop, donated so VERY kindly to my family, or stopped by to say hello and wish us well. Our hearts are full with the love you shared! We are blessed in abundance! my love and that of my family goes out to all of you! :)

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

I was kindly asked by Jenn over at Just Some Lines to do a tutorial for them. Of course mine had to involve coffee in some form or fashion! and when it comes to coffee and crafting, I have no shortage of ideas, so be on the lookout for part 2 to come later! :)

Ways to Recycle your Coffee & Grounds for Paper Crafting:

Coffee Paper -1. Take several sheets of plain cardstock and set them on a protected surface.

3. Carefully take each sheet of cs to dumping area, (this could be trash, but I put mine straight into garden for compost! plants eat them up like chocolate! grins!). Flip the cs over so grounds fall into dumping area. it's okay if you still have a few grounds stuck to paper.

4. Let cs dry for several hours until completely dry. You will see a really cool pattern emerge, each sheet different!5. Gently brush remaining coffee grounds from cs. It's now ready to use! :)

2. Add snippets of whatever ribbons & trims you would like to dye. Cotton tends to hold the color better than anything with a high synthetic content. vintage trims are fabulous for this technique!

3. Let soak for at least several hours.4. Gently rinse under slow tap water to remove any coffee grounds. Be careful to not wash away all dye. If this happens, just repeat steps 2 & 3.5. Let trims completely dry prior to using.

This is my completed card using the precious Just Some Lines image, 'Fairy Kiss'. papers are from the My Mind's Eye The Sweetest Thing Lavender collection, buttons are vintage, washi tapes are from Etsy, little ticket is Maya Road. card base was also sprayed with Mr. Huey's dewey mist, fairy's wings were covered in stickles, and little polka dots were added to the caterpillar.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

This hop will remain open till Tuesday Sept.4th
Winners announced Sept. 7th

I would be terribly remiss if I didn't begin by saying a most heart felt thank you to the ladies behind this blog hop - Jenn, Michelle, and Katie. they have gone above and beyond putting everything together for all of us. My family and I can not express enough how much we appreciate every single person who is participating in the blog hop as well as the numerous stores, companies, and individuals who have so graciously donated prizes. Please please take a moment from the blog hop to stop and tell these people thank you. I am so overwhelmed and blessed! :)

My card uses the fairy image from the Jen's Sunshine set as well as the 'You add sunshine' senti. paper is My Mind's Eye The Sweetest Thing Lavender, wings were coated with shimmerz paint as were her shoes (hey, every girl needs at least ONE pair of pink shoes! I myself have several!!! grins!) buttons are vintage, flower is Prima, leaves from a Martha Stewart punch, washi tape & baker's twine are from Etsy. little touches of rock candy distress stickles edge the main image and pink mat. my white gel pen was used to accent image as well as to add a dotted border.

I'm sending this card to a 9 year old girl who is currently going through treatment for leukemia. you can find more information about her battle here. I know how much the cards I have received mean to me. I hope to share a bit of sunshine with someone else fighting this awful cancer monster. hope she likes it!

Also, a friend of mine of fellow DT member is kinda sorta playing along in the hop. I would love it if you could take a moment to pop by her blog and see what she has made! Lisa - Adventures in Paper Land

We ask as you hop along with us, please consider donating at least $1 using the paypal donation button at any stop along the way. Your donation will go directly to Jen. Thank you. (I have to add this..... thank you for helping my family!)

It wouldn't be a hop without prizes. To see a full list of the prizes up for grabs, please visit

To be eligible to win a prize from our sponsors, collect the hidden letters located throughout the hop. Once you spell out the secret phrase, please email ---> Jenn Cochran at partytimetuesdays@hotmail.com. <----This will get you entered to win one of several fabulous prizes throughout the hop. ***Prizes up for grabs on my blog will be selected from comments left ONLY on my blog.***

Paper Pretties has kindly donated one digi of the winner's choice to be chosen from comments left on my blog! :)

and then there is the grand kahuna prize from those who leave a comment on my blog - Cath, a dear friend, editor at Paper Crafts mag, and writer extraordinaire of Moxie Fab blog has offered this ginormous selection of special edition PC mags, shipping included, to one lucky winner! whoa nelly! that is one fabby prize! :)

Now these are just a portion of a Cancer Support Prize package I am putting together for one person who leaves a comment on my blog. I am also adding some pretty pink vintage goodies that you know I love so well! :) then you can make projects to encourage someone going through this battle and who needs a little dose of love & smiles! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and bearing with my longer than usual post..... hope you had a BIG cup of coffee to keep you going! grins!

p.s. I have to add, as I have been slowly going through the hop, because the compy hurts my head to do too much at once, I've been listening to a most fabulous CD. It is called "Here for YOU", worship music by David Crowder and Chris Tomlin. Several songs have popped out at me - 'Lord, I Need You', 'Always', and 'Forever Rein'. if you don't get anything else from today, know this - God is good, always. almost every day I can say without fail I have felt peace through this battle because He goes before me. He does not ever fail me. He is always always faithful, and His blessings are neverending. oh how thankful I am! and how God has blessed me with all of YOU! :)

Hello everyone! my post today is going to be super quick and super short 'cause I am super sick.... blech! this bug I have is getting worse as the days go by. my fever is staying around 102* and I can't keep any food down. not a fun way to spend the days...

anyhow, today starts a fun challenge over at Party Time Tuesdays - create a gift or card for a teacher. I used a stamp from one of our sponsors, Flonz Stamps. I love the vintage stamps they offer! just so much fun! there is a special discount available to anyone who plays along in our PTT challenge.

This pencil and eraser pack is going to a very special young lady who is studying to be an elementary school teacher. I thought she would get a kick out of it!

The packaging is actually saved from a letterpress plate - perfect for pencils, markers, candy bars, whatever your heart desires! I had seen the cute little rulers available for sale from some of the craft companies, but for 25 cents grabbed one that my son cut into 4 pieces for me. thrifty and just as fun! :) the tab was punched from a business card that had a design I loved. Patterned paper is Graphic 45 ABC Primer. I made the little notebook label down at the bottom. some great washi tapes, stitched ribbon, a doily bit, button, and a beautiful Prima rose finish this off.

thank you again to everyone who has helped my family through the Jen's Sunshine blog hop! your kindness means a lot to us! :) welcome to my new followers, too! The hop ends tonight, so be sure to get your comments in!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

If you have had a chance to pop by the Jen's Sunshine Blog Hop, then thank you so much! For those of you who haven't, it's going on through Tuesday, so you still have plenty of time!

I'll be honest, I'm STILL working my way through..... I've taken sick, which is no fun whatsoever, and everything is taking me so much longer to accomplish since I seem to sleep for hours on end. there are so many inspiring, heart touching posts that it is also taking me a while to make my way through to say thank you to all of the people involved. I'm still overcome every time I think about all of you who have put so much of yourselves into your posts and projects. :)

and imagine my surprise when some of these cards have shown up in my mailbox! what a treat!

so many lovely prizes are up for grabs by the FABULOUS stores and sponsors. please please take a moment to say thank you to the wonderful people who have donated so many goodies for all of you to enjoy!

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FTC Disclosure

FTC Declaration -

In the spirit of full disclosure, I declare that I am a hobby/freelance designer. In the past I have received products that I promoted and endorsed as a hobby/freelance designer for free or at a discount from the companies listed on my Design Team blog page (or 'guest DT'). Any product that I mention is a product I have used in my designs and recommend with complete honesty. As a hobby/freelance designer, I have the freedom to promote/endorse products that I personally use and love. I have not, nor will I, knowingly endorse a product that I feel is of substandard quality. I, however, would like to mention that any products or stores that I endorse or promote with praise are done so honestly at the time of publication. I will not knowingly make false statements to my readers. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you.